Monday, June 2, 2014

A "God-believing atheist"?

Frank Shaeffer has a new book out, called "The God Believing Atheist".  Well, he's not an atheist--but he argues for a more pantheist view. In an interview, he wrestles with the concept of faith in this way:
I do not always believe, let alone know, if God exists. I do not always know he, she, or it does not exist either, though there are long patches in my life when it seems God never did exist. What I know is that I see the Creator in Jesus or nowhere. What I know is that I see Jesus in my children and grandchildren’s love. What I know is that I rediscover hope again and again through my wife Genie’s love. What I know is that Mother Maria loved unto death. What I know is that sometimes something too good to be true, is true.
He goes on,
Maybe we need a new category other than theism, atheism, or agnosticism that takes paradox and unknowing into account. I believe that life evolved by natural selection. I believe that evolutionary psychology explains away altruism and debunks love and that brain chemistry undermines my illusion of free will and personhood. I also believe that the spiritual reality hovering over, in, and through me calls me to love, trust, and hear the voice of my Creator. It seems to me that there is an off-stage and an on-stage quality to my existence. I live on-stage, but I sense another crew working off stage. Sometimes I hear their voices singing in a way that’s as eerily beautiful as the off-stage chorus in an opera.....
The interview ends like this:
So what are we left with? “It all comes back to stories,” says Schaeffer. “We are living a story."

1 comment:

it's margaret said...

"paradox and unknowing"

Para-dox Alongside (parallel to) glory (or thought)

I'll go with that --and be very grateful I really know nothing at all!!!! Whoot!